Well going against the grain of the comments here; I'm actually quite excited about this. Clearly the experiences of this guy is not representative of the final product. He says so himself.

It'll be 1) the consumer business model (yet to be revealed/understood) and 2) developer/publisher support it gains, which makes or breaks this as a mass market proposition, rather the technical stuff.

For those too busy/lazy to go the Criterion website: (Emphasis is my own.)

Criterion Games Announces Date for Cagney Software Update

Today, we're able to finally unveil the release date for the Cagney software update!

This is our 3rd and most ambitious software update yet! It will be available for free at 09:00am UK time on Thursday 10th July '08.

If you've missed the stories we've run so far, you can hit the Cagney tab at the top of this page and see all our Cagney blog entries in one place or check out the following summary of features:

3 New Freeburn Game Modes:

• Road Rage
8-player team event. One team must race through a series of Paradise City checkpoints. The other team must stop them.
Cue incredible chases and battling through the city, tons of voice communication as players co-ordinate their efforts.

Ranked Race Changes
• Too much to report in this blog entry but click here for the full breakdown!

Custom Soundtracks
• Custom Soundtrack support on PS3

Other high-priority fixes and updates

• If you're in a 3 or more player challenge and a player drops out, the remaining players can still complete it (subject to it being a challenge that can handle this!)
• "Previously" section on the search games list now displays Challenges, Today's Best and Freeburn game modes, making it loads easier to decide which game you want to join
• You can now view Leaderboards and Options in an online game
• You can now mute other online players in the show players screen
• You can now mute yourself if you have a PS3 Eye/Eye toy
• We've increased time-out for online races, and if all players complete the races within the timer, then you go straight to results
• The Airfield has been changed to help with the drivability of the area and make it a little easier to complete the hoop challenges
• Online cars now show damage - roll up to the start in a half-destroyed Hunter Cavalry and everyone else will see it!
• Added an stronger display message if you rule all of Todays Best
• The Easy Drive menu & Challenges page now loops from top to bottom
• Fixed the navigation system so that it takes into account the next check point in a race
• Fixed traffic not reappearing in Freeburn after a no-traffic race
• Fixed online races using Lawrence Road â€“ it's been reporting finish distances with a little inaccuracy
• Revised 30+ car resets following crashes
• All new sound effects added for Easy Drive
• Driving backwards in Road Rage now ends the event as it does in Marked Man
• Option to invert camera axis for the look around camera on right stick
• Online player information made accurate on the instance a player goes through a checkpoint in races
• If you set VOIP mix to zero it is now saved correctly
• 1080i support for "almost HD" sets
• Improved the Standard Definition rendering on PS3
• New highlight to show the player in Today's Best
• Easy Drive fades out if it's unused for 20 seconds
• Boost chaining no longer possible by drifting in open areas Reply0

Not much to add to the debate except to say there are always two side to every story. Life is not black and white and the newspapers/media/TV companies don't tell the whole truth. etc

Aside from regurgitating platitudes, I've had the fortune to travel around a lot of the world (on business and on hols.) I've been to Europe, Asia, Africa and America. ("So what?" I here you ask, no big deal...) My point: The primary difference I've found between all the different cultures is that (more or less) people are the same, wherever you go.

In my experience its politicial and religious ideology that brings out the worst in people.

Have to agree that the future is digital distribution of content, though physical media won't disappear altogether as some people will always prefer buying something boxed. (Though they will soon be paying a premium for doing so.)

However me thinks the timing of Lewis' comments is very cynical and motivated more by spite than anything else.

A lot of testosterone in this post... what happened to gentlemanly debate?

:Doffs cap to all:

As a PC gamer, I don't own either a PS3 or 360; (but do own a wii for a casual game session with my kids). However with all the apparent drama and FUD about MS' console I doubt if I'd ever buy one. (If I wanted one that is.)

EDIT: PS. EVERYBODY knows the C64 was much better than the speccie... :)

Having a RROD at a show is unforgivable, no doubt Messers. Ballmer et al. have released the ninjas to execute those responsible. Reply0